1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gel-in-place compositions for food products, as well as to food products including the gel-in-place compositions. The present invention also relates to the preparation, storage, distribution and cooking of food products without excessive seepage of liquid from the food products. Moreover, the food products according to the present invention are tender and have excellent texture.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In the curing of meat cuts, the dressed meat is usually injected with a brine solution, usually by multi-needle injection or by stitch or artery pumping, followed in sequence by resting, tumbling and/or massaging and finally cooking. Alternatively the meat cuts can simply be tumbled or massaged in the brine solution. Typical pickling procedures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,565,539, 3,683,789, 3,922,357.
In the injection of a solution, brine or marinade into the food product, the food product should most desirably be cooked at the injection site or near the injection site, because there is a tendency for the injected brine to leak out of distributed uncooked food products, in either fresh, chilled or frozen condition, during distribution or sale or at the final customer. For example, in fresh and chilled products seeping out of the brine can occur during distribution and sales, whereby the products loose much of their consumer appeal due to excess liquid present in the packaging. This can lead to a high incidence of returned products from distribution and sales end of the meat packaging and shipping business, such as supermarkets, meat processing plants, and other types of food handling locations.
There is also a need to reduce the liquid seepage in food products associated with larger packaging which is processed at a distributor or sale location, such as where the originally packaged food product is sold in smaller units than the original packaging. Distributors and resellers, such as supermarkets, often feel cheated when there is excess liquid in the packaging and therefore often request a reduction in price for excess liquid or at least what corresponds to the weight of the excess liquid.
As for frozen food products, liquid seepage can show up as excess liquid present in the form of higher than desired natural thawing loss. This undesired thawing loss of liquids can occur at or during distribution and sales, or when sold frozen, and the final consumer thaws the product. For example, a consumer that experiences excessively high thawing loss in a food product may not buy the same product again.
Food products into which solutions are incorporated also normally have the problem of excess cooking loss. Thus, for example, the incorporated solution can leak out in an unacceptably high manner during cooking, creating higher than acceptable cooking loss. Thus, while injected food products can also be cooked at a consumer location, instead of at or near the site of injection, there is a need to reduce seepage of the injected composition from the food products during shipping, as well as a need to reduce cooking loss during food preparation.
Moreover, it is noted that solutions that are incorporated into food products do not always increase the juiciness and/or tenderness of the cooked food product. Thus, many conventional solutions that are incorporated into food products will, for the most part, leak out during cooking, whereby such solutions will not significantly contribute to juiciness and/or tenderness of the cooked food product.
It is noted that in the prior art, it is known to mix brine and gelling polysaccharides, such as carrageenan or gellan, and the resulting solution can be injected into food products. Typically the brines used in such pickling processes will comprise one or more inorganic salts, particularly chlorides (sodium chloride), phosphates, nitrates or nitrites, organic compounds such as sugar, amino acids, protein extracts, and/or flavoring agent, natural as well as synthetic, spices (fresh, dried, extracted, etc.) sauces, wines, spirits, liquors, and any other flavor contributing and/or enhancing component and tenderizing agents, for example, enzymes such as papain, bromealin and other proteases, or foods, ingredients or compounds containing these enzymes, any type of animal or vegetable proteins in their natural or modified form, such as gelatine, collagen, egg proteins, milk proteins, soy proteins, and wheat proteins, any type of starches native or modified.
In prior art processes, it is the objective of the mixing of brine and polysaccharide so that the resulting solution can be injected into the meat utilizing normal injection equipment. Thus, in forming the injectable solution, salts are first added and then the polysaccharide is added. In this manner, the solution can be injected. In this regard, it is noted that salt generally decreases the solubility of polysaccharides. The more salt in the solution the higher the possible concentration of polysaccharide that can be added while still enabling injection. Thus, the prior art seeks to maintain a sufficiently high concentration of salt in the solution prior to addition of the polysaccharide in order to enable injection while maintaining the polysaccharide undissolved before cooking. This conventional method for making up a brine solution is described in Copenhagen Pectin A/S publication, Handbook for the Meat Processing Industry, Chapter 3, page 3-28 (1995).
Addition of a dry mix of carrageenan and salt is disclosed by Mason, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,545. The efficacy of the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,545 results from the fact that the salt in combination with carrageenan provides a rapid infusion system into the foodstuff matrix. Specifically, the salt extracts a portion of the protein at the surface of the foodstuff and opens surface pores on the foodstuff thereby allowing the carrageenan to be rapidly assimilated into the matrix. The carrageenan will then be strategically placed to hold and bind water during the cooking process. Thus, this invention draws on the insolubility of carrageenan in the presence of salt.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide compositions that are easily injectable and/or diffusible. There is also a need for compositions that can be added to food products, and the food products can be shipped while avoiding excessive liquid seepage. There is also a need for compositions that can be added to food products that enable the food product to be handled without unacceptable liquid seepage during handling. Still further, there is a need for compositions that can be added to food products in order to permit the food product to be cooked without unacceptable weight loss. Still further, there is a need, especially with red meats, and breast meat of turkey and chicken, to maintain these food products tender and juicy upon cooking, even with low levels of food treating composition incorporated therein.
The present invention concerns compositions that form gels in food products.
The present invention also concerns compositions that can be added to food products in order to produce food products with reduced liquid seepage. More specifically, the compositions according to the present invention can be used to reduce liquid seepage during shipping, handling and/or cooking of the food product.
The present invention also concerns compositions that are in a liquid form when added to a food product, and form a gel in the uncooked food product.
The present invention also concerns compositions that have changing viscosities, including lower viscosities, at least during a time period when the compositions are to be added to food products, and obtain a higher viscosity in the uncooked food product.
The present invention also concerns thixotropic gel compositions that can be agitated to form liquid compositions, with the liquid compositions being added to food products for subsequent re-gelling in the food products.
The present invention also concerns the maintaining of food products, especially meats, from wild or domesticated animals or seafood in general, with or without bones and skin, and, for example, breast meat of turkey and chicken, and dry types of fish, such as tuna and swordfish, tender and juicy upon cooking, even with low levels of food treating composition incorporated therein.
The present invention is directed to a process for forming a food treating composition, comprising mixing water and a gellable polysaccharide under conditions so that the gellable polysaccharide is at least one of dissolved or hydrated, and mixing the at least one of dissolved or hydrated gellable polysaccharide with at least one gelling cation in an amount effective to form a thixotropic gel.
The present invention is also directed to a process for treating a food product comprising adding to the food product an aqueous composition which is gellable in the food product.
The composition can comprise a thixotropic gel which has been shear thinned, and is added to the food product in a shear thinned condition.
The thixotropic gel composition can be formed by mixing water and a gellable polysaccharide under conditions so that the gellable polysaccharide is at least one of dissolved or hydrated, and mixing the at least one of dissolved or hydrated gellable polysaccharide with at least one gelling cation in an amount effective to form a thixotropic gel.
The water can comprise at least one of tap water, distilled water, demineralized water, and de-ionized water.
The gelling cation can comprise at least one salt, such as at least one of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, salts of citric acid, salts of carbonic acid, and salts of tartaric acid, preferably sodium chloride.
The gellable polysaccharide can comprise at least one of carrageenans, carrageenans in combination with at least one of locust bean gum, cassia gum or konjac gum; xanthan gum; xanthan gum in combination with seed gums; meal or flour of seaweeds containing gelling polysaccharides, either untreated or treated; fruit or vegetable powder containing gelling polysaccharides; gelling pectin; gellan gum; alginates; and gelling starch. The gellable polysaccharide can comprise fruit or vegetable powder containing gelling polysaccharides comprising at least one of citrus peel powder, apple peel powder or the part of sugar beet, which remains after extraction of sugar. The gellable polysaccharide can comprise low ester pectin, as well as low ester pectin in combination with carrageenan. The meal or flour of seaweeds containing gelling polysaccharides can comprise meal or flour of seaweed treated with alkali. The meal or flour of seaweeds containing gelling polysaccharides can comprise meal or flour of seaweed selected from the group consisting of Eucheuma Spinosum, Eucheuma Cottonii, Chondrus Crispus, Gigartina species, and Hypnea species.
The gellable polysaccharide can comprise at least one of iota carrageenan, kappa carrageenan, lambda carrageenan, xanthan gum and low ester pectins, and mixtures of these gellable polysaccharides with seed gums. The gellable polysaccharide can comprise a sodium carrageenan.
The water with which the gellable polysaccharide is mixed can have a salt concentration of less than about 2 wt %, more preferably less than about 1 wt %, even more preferably less than about 0.75 wt %, and even more preferably less than about 0.5 wt %.
The thixotropic gel, when thinned sheared, preferably has a viscosity of up to about 100,000 cps, with preferred ranges of greater than the viscosity of distilled water to about 100,000 cps, more preferably about 3 to 50,000 cps, even more preferably about 5 to 30,000 cps, and even more preferably about 10 to 20,000 cps. The thixotropic gel, when shear thinned, preferably has a viscosity of less than about 2,000 cps, more preferably less than about 1,500 cps, even more preferably less than about 1,000 cps, with preferred ranges including greater than the viscosity of distilled water to about 1,000 cps, about 3 to 900 cps, about 5 to 800 cps, about 10 to 800 cps. and about 20 to 800.
The gelling polysaccharide can be granulated or agglomerated. After formation of the thixotropic gel, additional polysaccharide can added. The gellable polysaccharide can comprise at least one carrageenan, and the at least one carrageenan can be present in the thixotropic composition in a concentration up to about 10 wt %, more preferably up to about 5 wt %, with preferred ranges including about 0.01 to 2 wt %, and about 0.1 to 1 wt %.
At least one food additive can be included in the processes and compositions of the present invention.
The food product can comprise at least one of meat, seafood and poultry.
Moreover, the aqueous composition can comprise a composition that does not form a gel externally of the food product, and which composition is gellable in the food product. At least one of temperature and gelling cation concentration of the gel externally of the food product can be insufficient to initiate gelling of the aqueous composition. The naturally occurring salts in the food product can effect gelling of the aqueous composition when the aqueous composition is mixed with the food product. The concentration of gelling cation in the aqueous composition externally of the food product can be below a gelling effective amount, and conditions of the aqueous composition wherein the food products can be changed to raise the concentration of gelling cation to at least a gelling effective amount. The gelling ion concentration can be increased by freezing or heating the food product. The gelling cation can be added to the food product. Encapsulated gelling cation can be added to at least one of the aqueous composition and the food product. The encapsulated gelling cation can be added to the aqueous composition, and the encapsulated gelling cation can be subjected to conditions to release the gelling cation after mixing the aqueous composition with the food product. The gelling cation can be present in the aqueous composition in an insoluble condition, and can be rendered soluble after mixing the aqueous with the food product.
The present invention is also directed to food products produced with the processes and compositions of the present invention, such as meat, seafood and poultry food products.